Chapter 18. The Dhamma Wheel Cycling

THE DHAMMA WHEEL CYCLING

According to the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the first discourse of the Lord Buddha, the Middle Way is the forefront principle of Buddhist practice in term of balancing and maintaining one’s physical and mental practice throughout both mundane and supra-mundane Noble Eightfold Path.

As such, we can compare our mind in the Buddhist practice to the Dhamma Wheel running into the Middle Way which is our path that is unlocked and furthered by the Noble Eightfold Path as driven by our own accumulated merit energy.

Firstly, we start from the Middle Way, the path of mind, which can be seen, engaged, and entered when we complete the meditative Noble Eightfold Path which we already explained in previous chapter of Dhammonomics. The completion of meditative Noble Eightfold Path allows our mind to stay calm, focused, balanced, and unified. Then, we can unlock the Middle Way and able to enter this spiritual path. Thereafter, to analogise this, our mind transports like a Dhamma Wheel that goes on like a cycle along the Middle Way.

The cycle of our mind, as a Dhamma Wheel, on the Middle Way, unlocked, steered and geared by the Noble Eightfold path, starts from (1) Insight Eye or Cakkhu (2) Intuitive Knowing or Nana (3) Wisdom or Panna (4) Superknowledge or Vijja (5) Mental Brightness or Aloka.

To clarify this cycle, we begin from the Insight Eye or Divine Eye which enables us to see the hidden truth such as the Four Noble Truth or ariyasacca at the transcendental level. As we see the truth with our Insight Eye, we have Intuitive Knowledge to know the truth. Once the truth is known, this gives rise to Wisdom or panna which makes us understand. When the truth is insightfully and intuitively seen, known, and comprehended in the transcendental level, we gain the Superknowledge or vijja. When the Superknowledge is realiased, the ignorance or avijja which darkens our mind ceases, more or less. Then, our mind which is originally bright can resume its brightness again. With stronger mental brightness, our Insight Eye or cakku can see the transcendent truth furthermore, and the process repeats itself like the Dhamma Wheel that repeats its cycling when going on along the Middle Way further as long as the mundane and supra-mundane Noble Eightfold Path is completed.

By Pittaya Wong

1 September 2018